environments. It is also responsible for administering the marine 

 sanctuaries program established by the Marine Protection, Research, 

 and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA) of 1972, It developed and is managing 

 the Coastal Energy Impact Program (CEIP) to provide financial assis- 

 tance to help coastal States and local communities affected by new 

 and expanded coastal energy activities. 



In 1978 OCZM was given the responsibilities for NOAA's Office of 

 Ocean Management (OOM) , established to review programs and projects. 



369. OFFICE OF FISHERIES: OOF 



This office consists of the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 (NMFS) created when Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (BCF) of the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service (F&WS) in the Department of the Interior was 

 transferred to the newly created NOAA in 1970. The service supports 

 biological research on economically important fish species, analyzes 

 economic aspects of fisheries operation, develops methods for improv- 

 ing fish catches, and supports studies of game fish behavior and 

 resources. With the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), it carries out enforce- 

 ment and surveillance operations in territorial waters and on the 

 high seas within the Fishery Conservation Zone (FCZ) or 200-mile 

 limit as established by the Fisheries Conservation and Management 

 Act of 1976 (FCMA). 



NMFS has four regional centers: the Northeast Fisheries Center 

 (NEFC), which includes the fortaer Middle Atlantic Coastal Fisheries 

 Center (MACFC); the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center (NWAFC) 

 created in 1976 by a merger of the Northwest Fisheries Center (NWFC) 

 with the Alaska Fisheries Center (AFC); the Southeast Fisheries Cen- 

 ter (SEFC), which incorporated the functions of the Atlantic Es- 

 tuarine Fisheries Center (AEFC), the Gulf Coastal Fisheries Center 

 (GCFC), and the Tropical Atlantic Biological Laboratory (TABL); and 

 the Southwest Fisheries Center (SWFC) formed by a merger of the La 

 Jolla, Calif. and Honolulu, Hawaii, biological laboratories. The 

 Atlantic Environmental Group (AEG) falls within the purview of the 

 NEFC and the Pacific Environmental Group (PEG) within the SEFC. The 

 Southwest Fisheries Center is responsible for the Fisheries Engineer- 

 ing Laboratory (FEL). In 1973 SEFC conducted the Oceanic Gamefish 

 Investigations (OGI), also called SKYLAB. It was also responsible 

 for the development of the Remote Underwater Fishery Assessment 

 System (RUFAS), a towed sled containing equipment to assess fishery 

 resources. Two of the centers include utilization research centers 

 to perform research on fishery products, especially the underused 

 varieties; one in the northeast is identified as NURC, and the other, 

 on the Pacific coast is called PURC. 



With the passage of FCMA of 1976, NMFS established Regional Fisher- 

 ies Management Councils (RFMC) to prepare and implement fishery man- 

 agement plans for the FCZ that will achieve and maintain on a contin- 

 uous basis the optimum yield from each fishery. Each RFMC includes 

 in its membership the regional director of NMFS, the principal State 

 official responsible for marine fishery management in each region, 

 and designated individuals having knowledge or experience with regard 

 to fish resources in each region. The number of the latter categor- 

 ies varies according to the number of States in the region. The 

 councils are the NEFMC — New England Fishery Management Council; WPFMC — 

 Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; NPFMC — North Pacific 

 Fishery Management Council; PFMC — Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

 MAFMC — Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council; SAFMC — South Atlantic 

 Fishery Management Council; CFMC — Caribbean Fishery Management Council; 

 and GMFMC — Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. 



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